The Artists

Broke Mountain (left to right) Robin Davis, Anders Beck, Travis Book, Andy Thorn (kneeling), Jon Stickley. Photo by Dylan Langille.

On The Fringe

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass “The cool thing about Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band is we thought we were something special,” says Anders Beck with a laugh, “but we were just five dumb kids.  Only time can tell if we were right or not.  I guess we were something pretty special though, because the bands…

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Terry Baucom // Photo by laci mack

Terry Baucom

The Duke of Drive Leaves Behind a Powerful Legacy in the Bluegrass World The old mill town of Elkin, North Carolina, is an oasis for folks who want to live in a rural area located between the mountains and the big cities of the Piedmont. It exists about 44 miles from Winston-Salem, 75 miles from…

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Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin at home in San Francisco, 1987. // Photo by Eric Thompson

Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin 

Deeply Traditional, Highly Original The saga of the musical careers of Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin—both individually and as a duo—spans seven decades, 20 albums, thousands of performances and more than a few twists and turns. The two started working as a duo in the 1980s, earning a legion of devoted fans, a comfortable measure…

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The Dirty Grass Players, (l to r) Ben Kolakowski, Connor Murray, Alex Berman, and Ryan Rogers play a sold-out album release show at the Recher Theatre in Maryland. // Photo by Liz Pappas (Barley Moon Photography)

On The Fringe

Bands Blurring the Lines of Bluegrass The idea of the grand voyager can invoke many images in your mind. It invokes the idea of travel, exploration, discovery and a journey. For Baltimore’s Dirty Grass Players it holds all those meanings and more. “Grand Voyager” is a track from their first album, Beneath the Woodpile. The track is…

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Andy Leftwich

Photo courtesy of Crossroads Label Group During the latter part of 2023, four-time Grammy-winning fiddler Andy Leftwich spent several of his nights at churches alongside his wife, Rachel, a talented vocalist and niece of his former boss, Ricky Skaggs. The couple and Leftwich’s award-winning band conveyed the spirit of Christmas with their annual show, “’Tis…

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Full Cord Bluegrass (left to right): Eric Langejans , Ricky Mier, Todd Kirchner, Brian Oberlin and Grant Flack. // Photo by Scott Simontacchi

Full Cord Bluegrass Cambium

With the release of Full Cord’s new album Cambium, fans may have to turn to the dictionary to learn that the title refers to the layers of plant cells that promote growth. But wordplay is nothing new to Full Cord, the Michigan-based bluegrass band. Their earlier EP was entitled Choreomania, a reference to the fit…

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